The Sarasota Police Department arrested a 30-year-old Sarasota man accused of vandalizing a downtown Sarasota synagogue, authorities announced Friday.
Laschinger is now facing a felony charge of criminal mischief of a religious building as a hate crime.
Police say the vandalism took place around 6 a.m. on Wednesday, July 29, at a synagogue on Cocoanut Avenue.
Police are reporting that surveillance footage shows Laschinger wearing a blue towel covering his head and face, throwing a brick and breaking the front window.
Sarasota police say Laschinger claims he saw propaganda on social media that morning and that it was making him mad. He admitted to detectives that he threw the brick at the window of the synagogue because it was a Jewish place of worship.
The case remains under investigation, and police are asking anyone with information to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070 or Sarasota Crime Stoppers at 941-366-TIPS (8477).
Michaela Galligan is an intern covering a variety of topics for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. She can be reached at MGalligan@usatodayco.com. Support local journalism bysubscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota man arrested in downtown synagogue hate crime
